It is dark and cold and menacing. No one can hear you scream. EXCEPT THE SWARM.

Post-Holocaust Day: #350

All of a sudden, klaxons blare throughout the fleet. Over the alarms, Pewter's voice booms: "ACTION STATIONS! ACTION STATIONS! Set Condition One throughout the fleet! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! All Air Wing personnel report to the deck and prepare to launch immediately!"

[Polly's Hoopty: Volans] For the second evening in a row, CAP has reported enemy contacts. A quartet of Raiders to start this time, handled by the CAP and the alert Vipers immediately launched to their aid. Of course, that's not the end of it. Four more appear shortly after and then another four behind them, still out of range, but boding ill for anyone who had plans to tonight that didn't involve combat. It's all hands on deck once again.

[BlackKnight-312: Devlin] After the mad sprint to the deck, Devlin launches with the rest, seeking out Poppy despite her unusual vehicle and forming up on her wing. As they head on an intercept course with the raiders he checks his instruments, confirms the target, and prepares to engage.

[TAC3] "Queenie" McQueen crackles across the channel. "Poppy, Queenie. Copy you /loud/ n' clear. I think we made them mad."

[TAC3] "Hosedown" Andrea says, " *laughs* Fine, Drips, but that means you're buying the beers when this is done."

[BlackKnight-854: McQueen] And one more dull grey streak comes hurtling out of the Cerberus' launch tubes, as McQueen pulls rapidly into formation and closes upon the Battlegroup's unwelcome guests.

[Petrel-648: Khloe] Poppy's Viper, one of the old Petrel birds, was one of the last to launch, only because the Captain was on restricted duty due to her burns. She apparently scrambled with the all-hands call, and here she is. No manner of deckie or doctor could keep her out of space.

[BlackKnight-309: Roland] Roland full burns til he catches up to the wing, slipping into formation next to the first empty wing he finds.

[TAC3] "Queenie" McQueen says, "Just a little closer, just a little closer. Slippery bastard! Just a little to the left."

[BlackKnight-308: Wade] Wade turns abruptly to fly towards the Raider that is attacking Andrea. He also has to shake his tail a little bit just to avoid getting hit by his new friend. He succeeds in that task, but he fails his attack and he doesn't hit a damn thing. "Frak…" mutters the man, keeping his focus on that Raider.

[BlackKnight-855: Andrea] +emit Slipping out of the line of fire of the Raider that was going after her, Andrea gets a shot off on it, damaging its wing but not killing it.

[BlackKnight-854: McQueen] A little to the left indeed. McQueen's aim is just a bit off, as his target dances through the grey shards that come flying out of his Viper's cannons. This doesn't dissuade Queenie, hoever, who corrects wildly and pulls back on the throttle to try to lock his prey into his firing solution.

[BlackKnight-662: Pallas] Pallas immediately zeroes in on one of the Raiders heading for a Raptor and goes after it, not particularly caring whether or not someone's covering him. His wingman's down for the count, so either someone will fill in for him or he'll fly solo. Coming up beside the Raptor, he cuts thrust and drifts sideways to strafe the Raider, giving it a few good holes in the body. He immediately flips his Viper and engages to chase.

[Polly's Hoopty: Volans] Down goes one of the raiders in a blast of gross, rapidly-vaporized raider goo under the force of Khloe and Devlin's attack. Lest there be any time spent on celebration, another just as quickly arrives in range to take its place, and in the distance, yet more begin popping into the area, on DRADIS but not yet in range. It isn't quite last night's swarm, but it seems to be heading that way.

[BlackKnight-312: Devlin] One down… who knows how many to go. Devlin returns to Khloe's wing as they splash their first target, wheeling over to take aim at the bandit on Spiral's tail.

[TAC3] "Spiral" Pallas says, "Poppy, Drips; Spiral. I may be old, but I don't need four of you covering my frakking ass. Blue, good frakking shot. Finish him off, then I'll split to draw these two away."

[TAC3] "Drips" Wade says, "Pallas, Drips. And I thought you wanted a group hug, old man."

[Harrier-303: Evandreus] Evandreus' bird gamely climbs over the battlefield to reach optimal jamming range, rolling to the side when the raiders come to call, dipping down into the fray, bringing the Raiders after him for the Vipers to pick off before either one of them can properly take aim, the shots going wild all around.

[Harrier-307: Marko] "Okay, Classy, bring us to heading one four two carom one one six, gives us a better broadside for our emitters." Marko calls out, working the suppression gear for all he's worth as the furball continues.

[TAC3] "Queenie" McQueen broadcasts a slightly-static-tinged, harsh laugh across the channel. Amidst random bursts of gunfire. "HAH. I wonder if he even saw me. Who is that ruggedly handsome bastard from Newport? Wait. Shite. Got a bandit comin' this way." That shut him up.

[TAC3] "Hosedown" Andrea says, " Drips, Hosedown. Looks like they like Poppy this time about. Let's help her out, yeah?"

[TAC3] "Poppy" Khloe says, "And you said you didn't need any help, Spiral. You have a hole in your pride, I think. Flight, this is Poppy. Keep it up. Cover the Raptors if your wingman is clear."

[Polly's Hoopty: Volans] Three raiders splash at once, the Colonials making a good showing, buying the fleet a few seconds more… but also giving a horde of Cylon fighters the chance to catch up with their fallen brethren. Down go 3, up come 5 more. Hopefully the ratio won't get any worse than that, but who knows.

[BlackKnight-308: Wade] And Wade keeps missing, he evades but he fails one again to hit target "Frak!" exclaims the man a little more angry at himself right now. "For frak sakes sorry ass piece of….damn it" Pissed pissed pissed!

[TAC3] "Queenie" McQueen says, "Well, never make the same mistake twice in a row. As McQueen levels out, his fighter peppers a chosen Raider with a generous amount of cannon fire, probably a little more than is necessary or even appropriate as he cuts a large swathe across the angry red 'eye' of one of the Cylon fighters, pulling around hard to port and kicking up the throttle as he moves away from this downed target."

[BlackKnight-855: Andrea] Pulling out of the sweep after Pallas' ass, Andrea pulls her bird around and with a tight roll heads after Khloe, who is having some difficulties now. Sure, she has a friend of her own, but she's got the nicer bird.

[BlackKnight-854: McQueen] Well, never make the same mistake twice in a row. As McQueen levels out, his fighter peppers a chosen Raider with a generous amount of cannon fire, probably a little more than is necessary or even appropriate as he cuts a large swathe across the angry red 'eye' of one of the Cylon fighters, pulling around hard to port and kicking up the throttle as he moves away from this downed target.

[BlackKnight-662: Pallas] Pallas manages to get some good shots in on the Raider, but he also gets tagged in turn. His Viper disengages abruptly, leaving Roland to chase down the bandit for the kill. His bird spins a few times, then comes flying back toward Roland and the Raider on his tail. He ain't out of this fight yet.

[BlackKnight-309: Roland] Blue wathces the raider spin off, and explode, but doesn't have time cheer as he glances at the Dradis. He checks his six before keying the mic.

[Harrier-303: Evandreus] Evan lets out a squawk that fortunately doesn't go out over comms when a Raider swings up out of somewhere just south of nowhere to look him in the eye and get a shot off before zooming overhead in searhc of other prey. Willing his hands to stop shaking, he peels up and north of carom toward clearer waters before he comes opver comms again.

[Petrel-648: Khloe] Flying the Petrels bird seems to have brought more luck than last night to Poppy, who is now flipping about in a true show of Viper agility in order to evade the Raiders interested in her hide. "I'm burnt, I frakking hurt, and I'm pissed. Come get some, you frakkers."

[TAC3] "Blue" Roland says, " Sprial..Blue…You still there to piss off folka?"

[BlackKnight-312: Devlin] Devlin sticks with Khloe, peppering another enemy with KEW fire. He peels off as it explodse and wheels quickly back into position, eyes on DRADIS and out his cockpit window back and forth. As two bandits pick up a taste for Khloe's Petrel, he mvoes into position to target one.

[Harrier-307: Marko] "You work the gear, Flasher, you let me worry about flying this damn thing." Classy retorts tartly, circling the Raptor around the periphery of the furball to provide as much coverage for as much area as possible, preferably without getting blown up in the process.

[TAC3] "Spiral" Pallas says, "Poppy, Spiral. Got no pride to wound. Don't know who was covering me, but they weren't doing much of a frakking job if I still got splashed like that. Blue, still here. Coming after the bandit on your lazy ass."

[BlackKnight-308: Wade] This time, Wade pushes the throttle on his Viper and makes a violent turn to start following one of the Raiders going after Khloe "Alright you sorry ass piece of shit…." mutters the man and opens fire, shooting angry KEW at said Raider. Perhaps the swearing worked because this time he hits the damn thing and blows it to pieces "Yes!"

[TAC3] "Decoy" Devlin says, "Poppy, Decoy. How you doing in there? Sorry I didn't nail that one sooner, he took a weird dive."

[TAC3] "Poppy" Khloe says, "Decoy, my controls are frakked, but I think I can hold it together long enough to be a target. If I get an opportunity to get out I'm heading back to the b… scratch that, 5379-Kilo is on my ass. Give me a hand with it."

[BlackKnight-662: Pallas] Pallas stays right on the Raider's tail, peppering it with shots. He doesn't get a kill, but he does enough to keep it from getting a good shot on Roland. Unfortunately for him, he's gets hit again - this time worse than the last. He squeezes off a few unaimed shots before breaking off, aiming his bird back toward Cerberus.

[BlackKnight-855: Andrea] Andrea's whole bird rocks as she takes the hit, and it takes her a moment to get her bird back under control. "Frak, frak, frak…" she mutters as she pushes her bird forward, getting a feel to see how she is flying. So far, so good.

[TAC3] "Hosedown" Andrea says, " Drips, Hosedown. I'm hit but its not bad. I think I still have a friend on me, though."

[BlackKnight-312: Devlin] Somehow continuing to manage to avoid the Cylons attention, Devlin focuses on protecting his wingman as best he can, not that he seems able to stop her from taking a few nasty hits. Yet another raider chases her tail, and he again turns to engage.

[TAC3] "Drips" Wade says, "Spiral, Drips. Are you ok man? Hosedown, I'll get that off you."

[BlackKnight-854: McQueen] Like two old sailing ships riddling each other with cannon fire (and missing completely), McQueen and his assailant pass each other before the former turns about to lock in a more tempting target. The Colonial Pilot hasn't forgotten his prey, however, no matter who is coming up on his tail.

[BlackKnight-309: Roland] Blue manages to get a few rounds of his own into Palla's raider sending it spinning as well. He banks to try to keep fire off of his wingman.

[Harrier-307: Marko] "Dammit, Classy, you gotta get us in closer." Marko protests. "We're not getting enough wattage out there to put any real sand in their eyes."
"Okay, fine, Flasher, but just remember this, you get us blown up, I will kick your ass in hell for the next ten million years." the pilot replies, moving the Raptor deeper into the combat and unknowingly presenting himself as a target in the process.

[BlackKnight-662: Pallas] Yet, for all his insisting, Pallas' Viper is flying erratically. And if there's one thing Spiral does well, it's flying. Almost looks like he's trying to fly… with one hand? This'll make for an interesting landing.

[Harrier-303: Evandreus] Bunny can see this one coming, at least. Who knows whether that makes it more or less terrifying for him, but his forehead's coated with a thin sheen of sweat and his shoulders ache being so tense as he deliberately and almost harshly works the consoles, the keyboards rattling with the frantic abuse.

[Harrier-307: Marko] Bringing the Raptor in closer does make it easier for Marko to do his job of trying to blind the enemy's targeting systems. It also puts them right in the sights of an opportunistic Raider that neither of the two spot until it's KEW fire goes blazing past the cockpit. "Frak! What did I tell you, Flasher? What did I frakking tell you?" Classy hollers and he starts trying to shake the bandit.

[BlackKnight-855: Andrea] Andrea's bird takes a hit to the nose and she spins… right into the midst of the swarm. Uh oh. Time for some fancy flying.

[BlackKnight-854: McQueen] A few errant shots skitter harmlessly through the wings of the rolling Cylon Raider McQueen pursues. Fortunately, so do those of his pursuer.

[Polly's Hoopty: Volans] The raiders seem to be gaining momentum, and while no one is yet clear on whether or not they have noses, there is every sense here that they smell blood in the water. Andrea takes a few punishing hits, and they swarm towards the damaged plane, a quartet closing in to attack.

[BlackKnight-309: Roland] Blue flips his Viper over, firing back at the Raider chasing him. He send around across its midsection, hitting it enough to make it miss its target.

[Harrier-303: Evandreus] Those shots were a little too close for Evan's liking, but he runs his bus through the well-rehearsed series of rolls and sharp twists that he'd honed on paper and in the sims, and, just when he's running out of steam, Queenie chases off the Bandit and gives him some literal and metaphorical breathing room.

[BlackKnight-855: Andrea] Pull up, dive down, hard turn, loop the loop, barrel roll. One moment Andrea has tons of Raiders blasting away at her, next, she's pulling free, with no (new) damage on her bird. With a smile, she pulls around to look for more prey.

[TAC3] "Hosedown" Andrea says, " Flight, Hosedown. HOT DAMN that was some nice cover. Thanks, guys, I owe all of you! Now lets get this party going yeah?"

[BlackKnight-308: Wade] They are trying to hit his wingman? No sir! Wade speeds towards one of Andrea's attackers, he pulls the trigger and angry evil KEW starts firing against one of those Raiders and makes a direct hit against the body of the thing, right in the middle. That Raider blows to pieces and he goes after another one now.

[BlackKnight-854: McQueen] Why break what appears to be working, however slowly? McQueen's course remains more or less steady as he drifts to and fro maintaining a steady funnel of fire around that same Cylon Raider he's been dogging. It sort of works.

[BlackKnight-309: Roland] Blue finally gets a clean shot off on a Raider, and immediately kick around to burn towards a new target. He keys the mic, and checks his six.

[Harrier-307: Marko] Classy's driving the bus as hard as he can, maneuvering the boxy Raptor around as hard as the flight envelope allows. "Frak! Go away!" he shouts as another Raider gives them a burst of KEW that barely misses their port winglet. "Flasher, whatever you're gonna do, do it _fast!_" he hollers.
"Just hold us here for a little bit longer." Marko calls back, setting up the next round of ECM pulses.

[Petrel-648: Khloe] "I can hold on… I can hold it together…" Poppy isn't successful in her attack on one of the Raiders dogging Hosedown, but at least one of them was taken out. And when her instruments show a lock on her Petrels Viper, there's a resounding, "Frak! I should've bugged out!"

[TAC3] "Flasher" Marko says, "Drips, Flasher, any help you can give us would be appreciated!"

[Polly's Hoopty: Volans] There are swarms of raiders, though maybe not quite as many as last night, the sea of chrome replaced by something more like a school of chrome — less solid, more fluid, gaps still visible between as they shift. All around the fleet, raiders whiz and KEW pings as the collective force of BSG-132's air wings engage the enemy. By now, only the dead or the dead drunk could have failed to notice the distinctive marks on their enemies: three vertical slashes, just like those from the night before, though any who flew over Reza will note that this time, rather than appearing on the nose, the majority of raiders bear these marks (whatever they might be) on their right wing.

[TAC3] "Poppy" Khloe says, "About time you joined us, Trask. All right, flight, this is Poppy. Back to the barn ASAP. Fly it like you stole it."

[Petrel-648: Khloe] Taking a pounding, somehow Poppy's Petrels loaner seems to be holding together with hope and speed. The Captain makes a beeline back to Cerberus.

[TAC3] "Queenie" McQueen begins, rather…anonymously, right after Pewter speaks.. "I love that man." Then there's an 'ahem'. "This is Queenie. Poppy, I can cover who needs coverin' for now while we get out of.." There's a bit of a pause. "What in the name of the gods is going on with those markings?"

[Harrier-307: Marko] Classy's done a good job of keeping himself and Marko unscathed so far, but it was bound not to last forever. The Raptor jockey finds himself first bracketed by bursts of KEW, then struck by the next burst. Alarms inside the two aviator's helmets begin to chime as the stream of steel stabs itself into the starboard engine. "Frak! Popping the firebottle." Classy calls out. "We're good to fly, but we need to get back to the barn and _NOW_. Damn! Fuel leak! We've got a fuel leak, Flasher try and lock it down, will ya?"

[TAC3] "Bootstrap" Trask says, "I'm so happy to hear your voices, boys, it's like callin' one of those nine-seven-six numbers. And it's called a dramatic entrance, Poppy."

[TAC3] "Poppy" Khloe says, "Then do some bus magic and cover our asses as we heroically run away!"

[TAC3] "Drips" Wade says, "Hosedown, Drips. I see them, moving in to engage."

[TAC3] "Decoy" Devlin says, "Poppy, Decoy. You've got one on your tail, but I'll cover it while you RTB, then right behind you."

[TAC3] "Flasher" Marko says, " Flight, Flasher, we're hit but not bad, somebody give us a little cover, while I try and lock this sucker down."

[BlackKnight-309: Roland] Blue hears Poppy's call, and turns back toward the fleet, hitting his afterbuner to try to make space between him, and the two chasing him.

[Polly's Hoopty: Volans] If it felt even for a moment like the Colonials were gaining ground, it does not anymore. As they begin across the field to turn and stream back towards hangars, the wave of Raiders advances even faster, seeming to multiply until space is thick with them, chasing on the humans' tails, nipping (well, one hopes only nipping) at their heels as they flee homeward.

[TAC3] (from "Queenie" McQueen) The sound of gunfire and shipboard systems fills McQueen's com channel as he yells across it. "This is Queenie. Nice shot, Decoy. Listen, they're getting torn to /shite/ out here! I'm with you if they set you loose." Then comes the inevitable addendum. "Kid." It sounds endearing, though.

[TAC3] "Poppy" Khloe says, "Cerberus, Poppy. We are coming in hot, repeat, they are tearing us apart. We have birds with major cockpit damage. Have medical ready to receive wounded."

[Harrier-307: Marko] The second hit Classy and Marko takes is the worst, a stream of KEW ripping into the Raptor's body to go pinging around inside. like rat shot in a soda can. How anyone inside isn't hit is a miracle, because damn near everything else _is_. The Raptor's still got power, but most of her active systems are KO'ed.

[BlackKnight-855: Andrea] Andrea's bird was already headed for the barn, which is lucky, because it doesn't seem to be slowing down or changing direction.

[BlackKnight-308: Wade] And after one of Hosedown's attackers, Wade goes. He focuses his attention on 4039-November and his attacks hit the target, the Raider bursts into crap and blood and it goes out with a bang. However, he can't help but to see exactly what's happening to Hosedown and he screams inside his cockpit "Hosedown! Hosedown! Frak!"

[TAC3] "Decoy" Devlin says, "Classy, Flasher, Bunny; Decoy. Queenie and I have your backs, but move fast. We need to get the frak out of here."

[Harrier-307: Marko] Classy is about to add something else to Decoy's statement but his radio erupts in a shower of static. "It was a boring conversation anyway. Marko, strap in _TIGHT_, this landing is going to get pretty interesting!"

[TAC3] "Queenie" McQueen pauses. "This is Queenie. Copy that. I'm on Decoy's wing for cover. Goin' to lay out some covering fire but we don't have much time." Another pause. "I'm over /here/, shitebirds! Can't you even see who you're tryin' to hit?"

[BlackKnight-308: Wade] When the RTB order is given and when he makes sure that everyone is doing so, in one form or the other; Wade turns his Viper and pushes the throttle to move back to Cerberus at full speed. 308 suffered no damage today, at least this means a happy landing.

[Polly's Hoopty: Volans] Death. Shiny, shiny, fast-moving, red-light-beaming death. That is the view behind the pilots and ECOs as they flee back to Cerberus, or at least hurtle in the general direction of Cerberus, depending on their current level of consciousness. There is nothing pretty about it on either side, at least not until everyone is back in the hangar and the fleet blips out of sight and into some new bit of deserted space. Deserted, presently-raider-free space. That is pretty, at least.